Two Things I Was Right About the Notre Dame Fighting Irish

After suffering a near heart attack watching the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hang on to defeat Michigan State yesterday, I realized two of my strong predictions for the season are manifesting themselves as true.

A) Armando Allen is becoming a top-flight running back.

B) Defensive coordinator John Tenuta’s blitzing schemes are not working and are hurting the Irish defense.

First, Allen has blossomed into the runner many experts thought he had the potential to be. Let’s give credit to the offensive line as well because they are playing much better and opening holes for all Notre Dame ball carriers too.

Still, even when there aren’t large holes, Allen is making plays, gaining extra yards, and showing extra toughness which Irish fans have always wanted to see from him. He’s averaging well over five yards a carry which is production that Notre Dame desperately needs to have a well balanced offense.

With Michael Floyd’s injury, the play of Allen is all the more important as the Irish will inevitably be forced to run the ball a little more in the coming weeks. Thankfully, the ground game is finally at a place where there’s confidence to hand the ball off and make first downs.

Now about the defense and the endless blitzing dialed up by John Tenuta. It’s just not working and is putting the Irish defense at a needless disadvantage. I was hoping that I would be proved wrong on this point, but all signs are pointing to the contrary.

There are a few reasons why the blitzes are not working. First, as most people notice, the defensive line cannot get a good enough push and have been unable to get any pressure on Nevada, Michigan, or Michigan State quarterbacks.

I don’t care if Mike Singletary and Ray Lewis line up at linebacker for Notre Dame because it’s not that hard to defend a blitz with a non-threatening defensive line.

Secondly, the linebackers have not been quick enough to get near the quarterback in time to make the blitzes worthwhile. As a result, Notre Dame continually sends five or six men at the quarterback while leaving the secondary out to dry.

The result is that the Irish have made opposing offenses look much better than they are and there’s a loss already on the schedule that I believe wouldn’t be there with a less aggressive defensive game plan.

It’s maddening to watch Notre Dame blitz on play after play and continue to do so when it is so clearly not working. There is also no schematic advantage for doing this when everyone and their mother knows it’s coming on every down.

Another thing that has bothered me is that too many blitzing defenders are being sucked into blockers and not trying to get to the quarterback. Numerous times I have watched as a linebacker would come off the edge to meet an offensive lineman, and instead of trying to get around him and get after the quarterback, they simply engage the lineman and doing nothing more.

Notre Dame might as well play with one linebacker on the field because that is what they’ve been forced to do for three games this year. After all those blitzes through three games (probably 80 percent of all snaps and over 90 percent of snaps yesterday) Notre Dame has a grand total of four sacks, including zero against Michigan State.

In my opinion, it would be like Notre Dame trying to run the ball up the middle and getting stuffed each and every time, but continuing to do the same thing over and over. In effect, the defense is playing into all of their weaknesses. Isn’t insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

I’ll give the Irish credit on State’s last play because they did get some pressure (although it was still late) but Cousins simply lost his cool and made a dumb play, something he was not doing all game long.

If you’re blitzing on 90 plays a game and only getting real pressure on half a dozen plays, then the game plan needs to change.

The question now becomes, will anything be done to fix the problem? What does Tenuta have to offer besides his blitz packages? Is it realistic to think Tenuta will tone down the blitzing in the coming weeks?

How much longer are we going to give opposing wide receivers ten yard cushions and wonder why it’s easier than back yard flag football to complete passes?

How much longer are we going to continue to see the one linebacker Notre Dame didn’t send on a blitz get lost in coverage and blown by a faster wide receiver?

So far, Notre Dame has given up 307 yards to Nevada, 430 yards to Michigan, and 459 yards to Michigan State. The Fighting Irish will have a hard time winning games giving up that kind of yardage.

At this point, given their preseason hype, the cornerbacks for Notre Dame have been the most overrated and disappointing. But because they are working at such a disadvantage with wild blitz packages in front of them, the corners are doing more than they should have to.

In conclusion, the defensive game plan needs to change and the incessant blitzing needs to stop. It could mean the difference between giving up 350 yards and 25 points to Purdue or giving up 225 yards and burying the Boilermakers before the fourth quarter begins.